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Conjunctival Attachment of a Tick: Clinicopathologic Report of a Case.

Willen C, Mullen GR, Yee J, Read RW

Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.

Attachment by ticks to ocular surfaces is uncommon, but has been reported. The objective of this article is to describe a case of conjunctival tick attachment and a method for removal by conjunctival excision. A 39-year-old man presented to the Emergency Department with a complaint of foreign-body sensation in his right eye. He was found to have a live tick embedded in his conjunctiva. The tick was removed en bloc with surrounding conjunctiva by an ophthalmologist. The arthropod was identified as the larval stage of the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum). The patient did not experience any systemic illnesses or adverse sequelae. Attachment of ticks to the conjunctiva is unlikely to result in disease transmission when the larval stage is involved. However, removal by excision of a surrounding block of conjunctiva is recommended to ensure complete removal of all tick body parts.

Published 2 June 2008 in J Emerg Med.
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